This invention relates in general to an assembly for protecting a person's head and face against impact injury and, more specifically, to an assembly comprising a helmet with a facemask secured thereto by radial elastic bands which permit the mask to be moved from a position over a person's face to a position on the top of the helmet. While such an assembly is useful in many sports or activities, it is particularly useful for catchers playing baseball, softball and the like.
Many helmets with removable facemasks have been developed to protect the wearer's face and head. Among these are motorcyclist helmets, fire fighter helmets, and various helmets used in sports such as hockey, lacrosse, football and the like. In general, the facemask is formed from transparent plastic or a metal or plastic grid which is semi-permanently fixed to the helmet. In some cases the facemask is removable or pivotable away from the face. Typical of these are the fire fighters' pivotable face shield described by Oleson in U.S. Pat. No. 5,257,417 the hockey helmets add facemasks of Copeland et al shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,129,108 and of Neeld et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,021,858 and the motorcycling headgear disclosed by Vitaloni in U.S. Pat. No. 4,689,836. While each of these has utility for the particular use described, in each case the facemask is difficult to remove or pivot out of the way quickly and, where pivoted, is not well restrained in the open position during continued intensive physical activity.
Baseball catchers have long used facemasks including a grid of metal or plastic mesh over the face, a padded rim for engaging the face around the mask, and a harness fitting-over a helmet. The mask must be quickly removed and dropped or thrown to the side in the event of a foul pop-up, a wild pitch, or other action on the field. Each time the mask is removed and dropped, there is a chance that the catcher will trip on the mask and be unable to complete a required action. Further, the mask, which becomes damp with perspiration, becomes covered with dirt when dropped and must be shaken out and possibly wiped off before play can be resumed. Retrieving and cleaning the facemask also delays play.
Increasingly, particularly in youth leagues such as Little League baseball, catchers must wear a helmet to protect their heads against impact injury from bats, balls, collisions, and the like. A combination helmet and mask, which must be rapidly removed and dropped to make plays, is heavy, cumbersome and difficult to remove quickly. Further, if the catcher wears glasses, removal of the helmet and facemask combination is likely to disturb, damage, or knock off the glasses. Because of the need for rapid removal, the existing helmet/facemask sets must fit loosely, and do not maintain an optimum, comfortable position during use.
In order to eliminate the problems associated with rapidly removing a catcher's facemask, dropping it out of the way, and cleaning before reusing, facemasks have been developed which are pivotally secured to a head-encircling band or strap. Lahan, in U.S. Pat. No. 991,859, discloses a catcher's mask secured to a head band by rigid arms or bars by a pivot pin. In use, the facemask is pivoted down over the face, with a strap running from the top of the mask over the head to the back of the headband to prevent the mask from settling to low. When it becomes necessary to remove the mask from the player's face, such as when a pop foul is hit, the mask is swung to the top of the head where a friction latch holds it in place. While sometimes effective, this arrangement has a number of problems. The rigid bars make it difficult to have the mask held tight to the player's face in normal use yet have it easily moveable out of the way. Pushing the mask upward quickly is likely to dislodge the headband, allowing the assembly to drop to the ground, where he or she may trip over it. Further, the latch may fail, allowing the mask to drop over the face at a critical moment when running after a ball. A more positive latch would be difficult to easily release to return the mask to the normal position.
Another catcher's facemask is described by Gray in U.S. Pat. No. 571,437. This mask uses a padded frame surrounding the player's face and a strap around the back of the head to hold the frame in place. A wire mesh mask is pivotally secured to a pivot attached to the frame and headband and is held against the frame by gravity and latched in place. When the mask must be moved out of the way, the latch is released and the mask is swung upward where it is held in place by weight or a latch. Before the mask can be moved out of the way, the hold-down latch must be released. Failure to properly release the latch will result in the facemask remaining in the vision-obstructing position over the face or in the entire assembly being pushed upward over the head, to fall in back of the player. Since the mask is not positively held in place in either position, accidental release of a latch may cause the mask to move to an angled and vision obstructing position partially over the face.
In order to protect the player's throat and underchin, catchers' masks often have an elongated pad or guard hanging loosely from the lower edge of conventional catchers' facemasks. The guard, while important for maximum protection, often strikes the catcher's face or eyes when the mask is being quickly removed.
Thus, there is a continuing need for improved protective helmet and facemask assemblies, in particular for use by catchers participating in games such as baseball, which overcome the above noted problems. In particular, the assembly should be held firmly to the head when the catcher is behind the batter while allowing the facemask portion to be easily moved out of the way when necessary. The facemask should be securely held in place in either of the two positions; namely, over the player's face or on the top of the helmet. Finally, the assembly should avoid the problems of a throat guard sliding across the face during mask removal.